UNIT 1

Chapter 2
Strategic Brand management

Strategic Brand Management Process, Customer Based Brand Equity

model (CBBE), Sources of Brand Equity, Steps of Brand Building
including Brand Building Blocks,

Strategic Brand Management Process

Involves the design and the implementation of marketing programs and activities to
build, measure and manage equity.

There are four management process.

1.Identifying and establishing brand positioning and values

2. Planning and implementing brand marketing programs

3. Measuring and interpreting brand performance

4. Growing and sustaining brand equity

1 ) Identifying and establishing brand positioning and values

The strategic brand management process starts with a clear understanding of what
the brand is to represent and how it should be positioned with respect to
competitors. Brand planning, uses the following three interlocking models

. • The brand positioning model describes how to guide integrated marketing to

maximize competitive advantages.

• The brand resonance model describes how to create intense, activity loyalty
relationships with customers.

• The brand value chain is a means to trace the value creation process for brands, to
better understand the financial impact of brand marketing expenditures and
investments.

2) Planning and implementing brand marketing programs

Building brand equity requires properly positioning the brand in the minds of
customers and achieving as much brand resonance as possible. The process
depends on three factors :

 Choosing brand elements : The most common brand elements are brand
names, URLs, logos, symbols, characters, packaging, and slogans. The best
test of the brand-building contribution of a brand element is what consumers
would think about the product or service if they knew only its brand name or its
associated logo or other element e.g Nike Swoosh. Mcdonals M ( Golden Arc
) LIC zindagi ke sath bhi , Zindagi ke badh bhi, Amul Girl, 7 up Green bottle
etc

 Integrating the Brand into Marketing Activities and the Supporting

Marketing Program :the biggest contribution comes from marketing activities
related to the brand.. It is an important step because it bridges the gap between
planning and implementation

 Leveraging Secondary Associations: The third and final way to build brand
equity is to leverage secondary associations. For example, the brand may be
linked to certain source factors, such as the company (through branding
strategies), countries or other geographical regions etc In essence, the
marketer is borrowing or leveraging some other associations for the brand to
create some associations of the brand’s own and thus help build its brand equity.
3 ) Measuring and Interpreting Brand Performance: To manage their brands
profitably, managers must successfully design and implement a brand equity
measurement system. A brand equity measurement system is a set of research
procedures designed to provide timely, accurate, and actionable information for
marketers so that they can make the best possible tactical decisions in the short run
and the best strategic decisions in the long run. System involves three key steps—
conducting brand audits, designing brand tracking studies, and establishing a brand
equity management system.

4) Growing and Sustaining Brand Equity: Maintaining and expanding on brand equity
can be quite challenging. Brand equity management activities take a broader and more
diverse perspective of the brand’s equity—understanding how branding strategies
should reflect corporate concerns and be adjusted, if at all, over time or over
geographical boundaries or multiple market segments.

CUSTOMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY ( CBBE )

Two questions often arise in brand marketing:

A )What makes a brand strong?

B )How do you build a strong brand?

To help answer both CBBE model was introduced .

The CBBE concept approaches brand equity from the perspective of the consumer—
whether the consumer is an individual or an organization or an existing or
prospective customer.. The model understands the need and wants of customers
or an organization and devising products and programs to satisfy their needs and
wants .

The basic premise of the CBBE concept is that the power of a brand lies in what
customers have learned, felt, seen, and heard about the brand as a result of their
experiences over time. In other words, the power of a brand lies in what resides in
the minds and hearts of customers
The challenge for marketers in building a strong brand is ensuring that customers have
the right type of experiences with products and services and their accompanying
marketing programs so that the desired thoughts, feelings, images, beliefs,
perceptions, opinions, and experiences become linked to the brand.

CBBE model has three key ingredients to this definition:

(1) “differential effect,”

(2) “brand knowledge,”

(3) “consumer response to marketing

First, brand equity arises from differences in consumer response. If no differences

occur, then the brand-name product can essentially be classified as a commodity or a
generic version of the product. Competition, most likely, would then just be based
on price.

Second, these differences in response are a result of consumers’ knowledge about

the brand, that is, what they have learned, felt, seen, and heard about the brand as a
result of their experiences over time. Ultimately it depends on what resides in the
minds and hearts of consumers

Third, customers’ differential responses, which make up brand equity, are reflected in
perceptions, preferences, and behavior related to all aspects of brand marketing,
for example, including choice of a brand, recall of copy points from an ad,
response to a sales promotion, and evaluations of a proposed brand extension

For example when a customer wants to make a choice of buying a car /bike . He
will look at all the brands that are available , will search the net for information ,
go for test drive , discuss with friends, reference groups and family and then
finally will make decision . The decision will be strongly influenced by knowledge
he or she has accumulated about the brand from these various resources .
 Brand awareness

Brand awareness consists of brand recognition and brand recall performance

 Brand recognition is consumers’ ability to confirm prior exposure to the brand

when given the brand as a cue. In other words, when they go to the store, will
they be able to recognize the brand as one to which they have already been
exposed

 Brand recall is consumers’ ability to retrieve the brand from memory when
given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or a purchase
or usage situation as a cue . In other words consumers recall of Cadbury will
depend on their ability to recall the brand when they thinks if chocolates
category or what they should they eat for chocolates ,whether at the store when
making a purchasing decision or at home when they decide eat .

Advantages of Brand Awareness

There are three—learning advantages, consideration advantages, and choice

advantages.

Learning Advantages

• The first step in building brand equity is to register the brand in the minds of
consumers. If the right brand elements are chosen, the task becomes easier
for e.g “ Nimbooz “The brand name – Nimbooz – from Nimboo ,Visual
emphasis of fresh lemon, Use of colours – yellow and green that associate
with freshnessWooden lemon squeezer to give the feel . All the brand
elements compliment the brand

• Consideration Advantages

Consumers must consider the brand whenever they are making a purchase.
Research has shown that consumers are rarely loyal to only one brand.
Raising brand awareness increases the likelihood that the brand will be a
member of the consideration set, that the consumer considers before
making a purchase
  Choice Advantages: The third advantage of creating a high level of brand
awareness is that it can affect choices among brands in the consideration set,
even if there are essentially no other associations to those brands.

Establishing Brand Awareness

Creating brand awareness means increasing the familiarity of the brand through
repeated exposure, although this is generally more effective for brand recognition
than for brand recall.

The more consumers experiences” the brand by seeing it, hearing it, or thinking
about it, the more likely he or she is to strongly register the brand in memory.

Thus the marketer must try to establish a strong link between various brand elements
and the brand . Name, symbol, logo, character, packaging, or slogan, including
advertising and promotion, sponsorship and event marketing, publicity and public
relations, and outdoor advertisin should be used to the advantage of the brand .

For e.g in addition to its name, Intel uses the “Intel Inside” logo and its distinctive
symbol as well as its famous four-note jingle in TV ads to enhance awareness

Brand Image

Once a sufficient level of brand awareness is created, marketers can put more
emphasis on crafting a brand image.

Creating a positive brand image takes marketing programs that link strong,
favorable, and unique associations to the brand in memory. Brand associations
may be either brand attributes or benefits. Brand attributes are those descriptive
features that characterize a product or service for e.g Close –up Red gel is
different than other toothpaste in the market .

Brand benefits are the personal value and meaning that consumers attach to the
product or service attributes. e.g Dermicool prickly heat powder which provides
instant relief and a cooling effect removing irritation
To create a strong brand image , marketers need to make sure that some brand
associations are made which are different from those of the competitors.

Unique associations help consumers choose the brand. For e.g Dove beauty bar
with ¼ moisturizer , uses dove bird as its logo

Some factors that, in general, affect the strength, favorability, and uniqueness of
brand associations.

 Strength of Brand Associations

The more deeply a person thinks about product information and relates it to existing
brand knowledge, the stronger the resulting brand associations will be. Two factors
that strengthen association are its personal relevance and the consistency with
which it is presented over time.

Direct associations are particularly influential in consumers decisions when they

accurately interpret them

Word-of-mouth is likely to be particularly important for restaurants,

entertainment, banking, and personal services. Starbucks, Google, Red Bull,
and Amazon are all classic examples of companies that created amazingly rich
brand images without the benefit of intensive advertising programs.

Another classic example is PULSE hard boiled candy sold over Rs 100 crore
with in 3 months of launch without any advertising because it was a
“discovery” brand fueled by word-of-mouth.

Marketing communication programs should use creative communications that get

the consumer thinking about the brand. They should be continuously expose
communication to customers and ensure that they don’t forget the brand.

 Favorability of Brand Associations

Marketers create favorable brand associations by convincing consumers that the

brand possesses relevant attributes and benefits that satisfy their needs and
wants, such that they form positive overall brand judgment.. For example, the
associations that come to mind when consumers think of FedEx may be
“fast,” “reliable,” and “convenient,” with “purple and orange packages
  Uniqueness of Brand Associations

Unique associations are critical to a brand’s success . Marketers can make this
unique difference explicit through direct comparisons with competitors, or
they may highlight it completely .

Thus, in almost all cases, some product category associations will be shared with
all brands in the category. However ,the strength of the brand associations to
the product category is an important determinant of brand awareness

STEPS OF BRAND BUILDING including BRAND

BUILDING BLOCKS

The brand resonance model looks at building a brand as a sequence of steps, each of
which is dependent on successfully achieving the objectives of the previous one.

The steps are as follows:

1. Ensure identification of the brand with customers and an association of the brand
in customers’ minds with a specific product class, product benefit, or customer
need.

2. Firmly establish the totality of brand meaning in the minds of customers by

strategically linking a host of tangible and intangible brand associations.

3. Bring out the proper customer responses to the brand.

4. Convert brand responses to create brand resonance and an intense, active

loyalty relationship between customers and the brand.

These four steps represent a set of fundamental questions that customers invariably
ask about brands:

1.Who are you? (brand identity)

2. What are you? (brand meaning)

3. What about you? What do I think or feel about you? (brand responses)

4. What about you and me? What kind of association and how much of a
connection would I like to have with you? (brand relationships)
There is a relationship between all steps until the former is not completed the latter
will not make sense

Brand building blocks

The brand building blocks has six dimensions and various sub- dimensions . Brand
equity can be achieved only if the brand reaches the top of the pyramid .

Brand resonance Pyramid

Sub- dimensions of brand building blocks

Building blocks up the left side of the pyramid represent a more “rational route”
to brand building, whereas building blocks up the right side of the pyramid
represent a more “emotional route.” Most strong brands are built by going up both
sides of the pyramid.

Let’s try to understand each of the building blocks . they are :

1.Brand Salience

Achieving the right brand identity means creating brand salience with customers. Brand
salience measures various aspects of the awareness of the brand and how easily
and often the brand is evoked under various situations or circumstances.

Brand awareness refers to customers’ ability to recall and recognize the brand under
different conditions and to link the brand name, logo, symbol, and so forth to certain
associations in memory

The breadth of brand awareness measures the range of purchase and usage
situations in which the brand element comes to mind and depends to a large extent
on the organization of brand and product knowledge in memory.

For example :let’s look at Tropicana Juice . The depth would be that whenever
Orange juice is mentioned the consumer thinks about Tropicana. The breadth
would be the various occasions the consumer thinks having Tropicana juice.
Does the consumer only think of Tropicana juice as a type of beverage to drink,
especially when seeking a “tasty but healthy” beverage

A highly salient brand is one that has both depth and breadth of brand awareness

2. Brand Performance

Designing and delivering a product that fully satisfies consumer needs and wants is
a requirement for successful marketing. It is important for the brand to meet
customer’s expectations. If the brand surpasses customer expectation it creates
customer delight .

Brand performance describes how well the product or service meets customers’ more
functional needs. The strongest brands excel because they offer performance
advantage which the competitors cannot match up.
3 ) Brand imagery.

Brand imagery depends on the extrinsic properties of the product or service, including
the ways in which the brand attempts to meet customers’ psychological or social
needs. It is the way people think about a brand abstractly, rather than what they think
the brand actually do.

Thus, imagery refers to more intangible aspects of the brand, and consumers can form
imagery associations directly from their own experience or indirectly through
advertising or by some other source of information, such as word of mouth

For example Raymond the textile brand with some of its intangible associations
such as Family , elegant and classic / timeless.

a) User Imagery

One set of brand imagery associations is about the type of person or organization
who uses the brand .Celebrities , sportspersons , entertainers or politicians may
be used to create user imagery

b) Purchase and Usage Imagery.

A second set of associations tells consumers under what conditions or situations they
can or should buy and use the brand. For example BIG BAZAAR offers special
discounts on Wednesday “ SAAB SE SASTHA DIN” Thus creating an occasion for
them to buy .

c) Brand Personality and Values

Through consumer experience or marketing activities, brands may take on

personality traits or human values and, like a person, appear to be “modern,”
“old-fashioned,” “lively,” or “exotic.. Marketing communication and advertising are
influential in shaping the brand personality of a product. Consumers often choose
and use brands that have a personality For example Thums up –
Ruggedness, Outdoor , Dove – feminine

d) Brand History, Heritage, and Experiences

Finally, brands may take on associations to their past and certain noteworthy
events in the brand’s history. These types of associations may recall distinctly
personal experiences and episodes or past behaviors and experiences of
friends, family, or other for e.g Colgate
4 ) Brand Judgments

Brand judgments are customers’ personal opinions about and evaluations of the
brand, which consumers form by putting together all the different brand performance
and imagery associations. Customers may make all types of judgments with respect to
a brand, but four types are particularly important: judgments about quality,
credibility, consideration, and superiority.

5 ) Brand Feelings

Brand feelings are customers’ emotional responses and reactions to the brand.
These feelings can be negative or positive .for e.g Saffola cooking oil gives a
positive feeling in the wife’s mind as it is healthy oil which is good for her
husband’s heart even though it is more expensive than the competitor brand

Brand judgments are driven by head while brand feelings are driven by mind

6) Brand Resonance

Brand resonance describes the nature of this relationship and the extent to which
customers feel that they are “in sync” with the brand. Examples of brands with
historically high resonance include Harley-Davidson, Apple, and eBay

a) Behavioral Loyalty

Behavioral loyalty can be measured in term of repeated purchases . In other words the
marketer can gauge the behavioural loyalty by the number of times the customer
purchases the product .

b) Attitudinal Attachment

Brand Resonance requires a strong personal attachment. Customers should go

beyond having a positive attitude to viewing the brand as something special and
the customers may say that they are in love with the brand . Creating greater
loyalty requires creating deeper attitudinal attachment, through marketing programs
and products and services that fully satisfy consumer needs.

c) Sense of Community

T he brand may also take on broader meaning to the customer by conveying a sense
of community. Activities done for the good of the society also develop goodwill for the
brand
 d) Active Engagement

Finally, perhaps the strongest affirmation of brand loyalty occurs when customers are
engaged, or willing to invest time, energy, money, or other resources in the brand
beyond those expended during purchase or consumption of the brand For example if a
customer is actively involved in the brand and respond to the brands various
social media platform

In short, brand resonance and the relationships consumers have with brands have two
dimensions: intensity and activity. Intensity measures the strength of the attitudinal
attachment and sense of community. Activity tells us how frequently the consumer buys
and uses the brand, as well as engages in other activities not related to purchase and
consumption.

The brand resonance model provides a road map and guidelines to brand
building .it also reinforces the number of important brand building blocks .

Questions

1) Explain various steps in Strategic brand management process.

2) What is brand awareness ? explain its advantages.

3) Explain Customer Based Brand Equity ( CBBE ) model.

4) While creating a strong brand image what are the factors that must be kept in
mind ?

5) What are the steps in brand building including brand building blocks.